Montane Will
by Alastair
Summary: Luffy climbs Drum Rockies, and remembers climbing another mountain once before. Not that it's helping him now.


**Montane Will**

Luffy was cold.

It was also getting harder to breathe, and every step upward was agony. He grinned around the coat stuck in his mouth however, knowing that if he could still feel – even though it was pain – he would be able to recover. Luffy trusted that he would be able to heal.

Her breathing on his ear quickened, and he hissed to himself as his fingers found purchase in the rock, wondering if she were awake, and whether or not she would look down. Thinking back, he remembered that she very likely hadn't even looked at the mountains when he had said they were mountain climbing. Gritting his teeth in a smile, he realized that he _knew_ that Sanji wasn't awake because the moment he opened his eyes, Luffy would have heard nothing but screams and curses that would be swallowed up by the wind.

Not bothering to look down, Luffy let his eyes glance from where his hands were to the summit that he was unable to see, and he calculated that he was no more than a quarter of the way up the mountain. Wriggling toes briefly while he lifted them from one foothold to the next thousandth, his chest shook with silent laughter.

A moment later, he realized he was actually just shaking. There was no laughter in his breath or chest, and all he could do was tremble. _Damn it!_

Luffy slid down about a meter, and he cringed, grinding his teeth into Sanji's coat with a whine while his fingers and toes throbbed. Swallowing dryly once he was certain that his descent had stopped, he started again, breathing a bit faster through his nostrils as he left his blood on the rocks.

"_You're going where?"_

_Luffy grinned, pointing at the mountain range, and said, "Over there. I'm going to see the top."_

"_Really. Right now?"_

"_Yeah!"_

_Tilting his head to the side, Ace seemed to let his eyes take in the rubber boy wearing a straw hat, shorts, sandals and a green T-shirt. He said, "You are not going up in that."_

"_So you're not going to tell on me?"_

_Throwing back his head in laughter, he said, "We're not little kids anymore, you dolt. When was the last time we ever told a tattletale, Luffy? Besides, I bet Grandpa wouldn't mind if we got lost somewhere – we could pass it off as training."_

_Scratching his nose, he glanced at their house where he could see his grandfather talking with Woop Slap, the mayor. He made a slightly miserable face at them both before, redirecting his attention toward his brother. Luffy said, "You're not telling Grandpa."_

"_Oh, we're not, are we?"_

"_Yeah," he said with a nod before he gaped. "Wait, 'we?'"_

_Ace grinned, and said, "If my little brother's going to make an ass of himself, then I want to join in on the fun."_

_Lips twitching up in a smile, he nodded, "Okay."_

"Captain …"

"Hey, Nami," he said.

Said while not releasing his grip on Sanji's coat, or daring to say or do anything that might alert her that anything might be wrong. He could already see her taking his bleeding hands and feet the wrong way. All of this – fighting the weird polar bears, and dodging a crazy king on a hairy hippo, and scaling a mountain to reach a castle where a witch lived – was to make Nami well once more.

"I'm cold," she said, and with a glance at her, he saw how tired that she was.

The sweat on her face was fresh. Yet he could see some of it already freezing, and her hair had frozen into strange clumps from the perspiration soaked into it. Straining slightly, he twisted his neck to try smiling at her.

He said through grinding teeth, "You're okay."

Hearing her sigh, he blinked at her face – her eyes closed with a slightly pained expression – before he figured that she had fallen asleep. It was just as well, however, for he was sure that he would not have been able to talk much longer with Sanji's jacket in his teeth.

Once he found more ledges, he hoisted himself up again with a bit more effort, grimacing when the sting of his fingers began to shoot lancing needles through his veins.

Snorting, he focused on breathing through his nose and ascending, and he thought, _Damn it._

He cringed as his throbbing hands and feet searched for places in the wall of the mountain, but Luffy reckoned that he would be all right, and the bleeding would help to bring warmth back to those freezing regions of his body. For sure, he would be faint, and blood loss was actually bad, but he didn't feel like losing body parts on that particular day, so he would endure.

"_Thanks, Luffy," he said, twirling the stick that he had picked up on their trek._

"_Ah?" He looked at Ace, blinking a few times at him. The two were already nearly frozen over – halfway up the mountain, they were walking through meter-high snow, and Luffy wasn't sure if it was even ground that was below their feet or just more packed snow._

"_I was just trying to find out how to spend some time with you, and you gave me a great reason."_

_Rubbing his arms a bit, he said, "Mmn? What're you talking about?"_

_Ace smiled warmly, and said, "I'm leaving."_

"_Huh?"_

"_As soon as Grandpa goes back to Head Quarters, I'm leaving. I'm going to be a pirate too." He cocked his head, "You should come with me."_

"_Nah," he said, turning back to watching where they were going – the peak was like a glistening promise in the distance. "I'm not ready yet. Shanks said I should wait ten years."_

"_He didn't say that. He told you that he might consider recruiting you in ten years."_

_He said, "I'm still not ready though."_

"_I suppose that's true." Ace smirked, "If you can't beat __**me**__, then you shouldn't wander around on a boat."_

_Sticking his tongue out at him, Luffy said, "Nyaah. You're not so tough. I'll kick your ass in no time." Taking his hands out from under his armpits, he scowled, clenching and unclenching his sore fingers, "Damn, my fingers are stingy."_

_Ace said, "That's when your veins start to constrict."_

"_Hm? What's that mean?"_

"_There isn't a lot of blood going to the veins in yours hands because it's going through the rest of your body to conserve body heat. I told you that we should've put some coats and gloves on at least."_

_The two brothers suddenly blinked at each other for a few moments before they shuddered, and clung at themselves with a great, "Brrr!"_

When he nearly lost a hold of a tiny ledge, he paused to take a deep breath, and then attempted again, forcing his numbed hand to clasp that which he could barely feel. The blood from Luffy's hands and feet was already congealed over.

As he continued onward, he found himself growing slightly warmer, and he was fooled, shortly, into thinking that he was getting used to the chill.

He mentally shook the notion away, still steadily climbing, and tried to ignore how awful his tremors were becoming.

Luffy felt numbness climb up his arms, and the odd warmth in his limbs aggravated him. With Nami strapped to his back and so close, and Sanji against his stomach, the heat seemed unbearable. As he quaked with augmented intensity, he gauged the distance once more, but found it hard to concentrate, staring up at a summit which he could barely see through the snow, and blustery weather.

He tried to remember if it had been easier back then – when the world had seemed smaller there in the village. Luffy had done all that he could to prepare himself. Out in the enormous world, however, he discovered that he was using blind instinct more than what he had actually learned.

All he knew and could concentrate on properly was that Nami was in danger, and he was freezing some much wanted dangling bits off.

Behind him, he heard her voice again, softer, "So … sorry …"

His elbows buckled. Luffy slid down a bit before he could reinforce his grip, closing his eyes to the pain before he reached up, even stretching his arm a bit to find better clutch holds.

"You're okay," he said around Sanji's shirt.

Though he was certain that she was not as conscious as she seemed, he knew how essential a voice from out of the darkness could be.

"You're okay," he said.

"_Shit," Ace grabbed his shoulder, "Luffy, stop stretching. You know that rubber is brittle in the cold."_

"_I feel warmer now though."_

_Frowning just slightly, he looked out to the mouth of the small cavern where a storm raged. Ace said, "It's a lie. When you start to feel warmer, it's only going to get worse."_

_Lips pulled into his own grimace, Luffy said, looking up at his brother, "How will we be able to tell when we're really warm?"_

"_When we're off this mountain," he ruffled Luffy's hair, and then wrapped his arms around the smaller boy, closing his eyes. After a moment, he opened them, and said, "Luffy, we have to stay awake, okay? Don't fall asleep."_

"_Easier said than done," he shivered, letting his teeth chatter. "You fall asleep all the time."_

"_Just try to stay awake and keep me up too."_

_He frowned, "Hey, why me!?"_

"_You don't get the spells as often as me," Ace said, bopping his head._

_For a while, Luffy rubbed his head, staring forward at the wall of the cave. They had made it to the top just a few hours ago, but by then, night had almost completely fallen. Tired, soggy, and cold, they had decided to rough it out in that cave for the night; however, things weren't going so well._

"_I'm hungry," he said._

"_Can't help you there, kid."_

_Luffy knew this already. He said, "Ace, are we going to die?"_

_His brother laughed, "I don't know. If we die, we'll be warm though."_

"_Is that what death is?" Craning his head, Luffy finally found a comfortable position to look up at Ace's face. "Being warm?"_

_He was quiet for so long that Luffy began to wonder if he had fallen asleep with his eyes open, but then Ace smiled, and said, "Yes. That's exactly it. Death means you'll never be cold again."_

_Luffy grinned back._

Feeling out the next ledge, he pulled his shaking form upwards, groaning at his sluggish effort. His bare feet – raw, bloody and numb – were only pressed against the wall of the mountain as to brace himself so that he could grab onto higher ledges with his hands. Both feet seemed useless for anything else, and it was too troublesome to let them dangle in the air; they would only drag him down, and thus waste his strength.

As his hand closed over the top of the mountain, he shook a bit, relishing in the feel of the last foothold before lurching with as much of the strength that he had left. Rolling onto flat ground, he then laid Nami and Sanji down, panting as he tried to see through the storm at the castle.

Looking down at his hands, he wondered how he could have pulled himself up since he doubted that he would be able to move his fingers freely ever again – so frozen were they that it was hard to remember what it was like to possess working appendages.

Licking chapped lips, he said hoarsely, "Doctor … Nami … my friends ……"

Standing, he swallowed hard, gazing up before he stumbled backwards, his footing lost as the edge of the mountain began to crumble. For an amazed moment, he actually felt his stomach drop as he fell, having believed that his entire body was without sensation.

Just as abruptly, however, he stopped falling, and, unable to lift his head anymore, he couldn't look to see what had happened. He opened his mouth, but only a husky gasp escaped from his throat. Luffy tried again, and as he was laid down by the unseen catcher, he managed a nearly silent sound that didn't seem to reach his savior's ears, "Doctor …"

He heard voices – soft and barely understandable with him on the edge of consciousness and lucid thoughts.

Something – what looked like a boot or some form of a foot – was abruptly in front of his face, and he reached out, needing to tell them. Luffy grasped for the ankle, unable to feel it, but he could see through darkening eyes that his hand was on it, and he curled his fingers around it with what he didn't have left.

"Doctor … They … are my crew …!"

!#$&()+

**THE END**

!#$&()+

_There … wasn't really a point to this. I just wanted to do a Luffy story with him climbing the Drum Rockies with Nami and Luffy. Ace snuck into his perspective part of the way through, but I doubt anyone's complaining. If anyone's wondering about the title, t__he adjective __**montane**__ is used to describe mountainous areas and the things associated with them._

_And uh … I know what's going to happen __**after**__ this chapter of _TWWOO_, but I don't know what's going on in the current chapter. The one-shots are slight breaks, I guess. Besides …;-; I'm still busy at work._

!#$&()+


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